Couture Monday: Have a garden party with Dior

I bought Dior's spring 2012 palettes back in January, but wanted to wait till it was closer to spring to post about them. As it's officially spring in 2 days, today's installment of Couture Monday is dedicated to Dior's Garden Party collection.

From the press release: "'After women, flowers are the most heavenly creation.' — Christian Dior

Christian Dior grew up in Granville, on the cliffs of Normandy, in a house buffeted by strong winds, and seemingly unsuited to the creation of a garden. However, the young man’s creative strength and relentless hard work defied nature, and today one can still admire the garden in bloom and in particular, the fantastic rose garden planted with his own hands. Christian Dior also loved the excitement of parties, and often hosted the aptly named 'Grand Balls of the Century' with enchanted beauties from the Normandy coast and Paris alike. The theme of the festive garden is still alive today throughout many Dior creations. The Dior spring color collection is inspired by Dior’s fantastic garden."

Fantastic it is! Before we get to pictures of the gardens, however, let's take a look at the eye shadow quints and combination palettes. The embossed roses are pretty on their own, but the lace pattern woven around them is a nod to the designer's couture flower gowns and elevates these palettes to museum status.

Garden Pastels:

With flash:

Garden Pinks:

With flash:

Here are the combination palettes, housed in a glossy white case with a basket-weave pattern. Milly Garden Clutch:

I adore the little metal rose clasp:

With flash:

Granville Clutch:

With flash:

According to the Dior website, "Ever since the emblematic 'Corolle' line in 1947, flowers have been a favourite theme in Dior Couture creations, running through the choice of colours, prints and silhouettes." Since I don't associate Dior with florals I decided to take a peek through some of the past and present collections to see if flowers were prominent. Were they ever! Feast your eyes on some vintage Dior flower dresses.

(image from iheartweddingdress.blogspot.com)

I love the cascading petal effect from these 1949 beauties.

(image from achicdirection.com)

"Nuit d'aout" (August Night), spring 1954:

"May", 1953:

"Chambord", 1954:

(images from styleiseternal.net)

Fast forward to the present day. Some 60 years later Dior is still working florals into the collection. Spring 2009:

Spring 2012 Couture:

But my favorite of all the Dior flower/garden-inspired designs came from the spring 2010 couture show.

(images from style.com and dailymail.co.uk)

I'm not sure why I didn't think Dior did florals…I was definitely misguided!

Now let's look at the gorgeous Dior gardens in Normandy. You can read more about the history here.

Dior Granville Garden in Normandy:

(images from musee-dior-granville.com)

(images from jardinsclariere.blogspot.com)

After seeing these pictures and the palettes, I think Dior's beauty department did a great job embodying the spirit of the designer's childhood home as well as his style. Pretty but not precious, the flowers in both the brand's couture gowns and the Garden Party palettes show Dior's unique take on florals.

What do you think? Are these palettes just run-of-the-mill rose designs or something better?

Get Connected

Join The Conversation On

Substack

@makeupmuseum